With microplastics now permeating our food and our bodies, researchers are keen to assess the potential damage these tiny fragments could be doing. A new study shows how plastics may lead to dangerous blood flow blockages in the brain.
The study, led by a team from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences in Beijing, involved tracking microplastics in blood vessels moving through mouse brains in real time – the first time microplastic movement has been tracked in this way.
Using high-resolution laser-based imaging techniques, the researchers found microplastic-laden immune cells becoming lodged inside blood vessels in the cortex area of the brain.